Improvement in waste-traps



w.` A1. `s|+Aw & c. 6.1mm,

Water-Trams.`

Patented June 10. 1873 N W a M N W AM. pHoro-umasR/:PH/cca M Mossomvemoms) WILLIAM A. SHAW AND CHRISTOPHER C. TRACY, or NEW YORK, N. Y., As.

SIGNORS TO THEMSELVES AND CHARLES F. HERV, OF SAME PLACE.

IM PROVEMENT .IN WASTE-TRAPS.

i Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 139,739, dated,` June 10, 1873; application filed May e, 1873.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, WILLIAM A. SHAW andCHRISTOPHER C. TRACY, both of the city, county, and State of New York,have invented Y certain new and useful Improvements in i to force thesaid gas or air back through the traps. This has been remedied beforeour invention by means of self-acting valves, arranged to close thetraps when the back-pressure becomes Yexcessive or the water-sealhappens to be evaporated or. siphoned away.

Our invention has reference principally to the construction of the bendof the trap toit i it to receive a floatingball valve anda seat in suchmanner that, while said valve will be guided accurately in itsmovements, and held at all'times in proper place vertically over itsseat, it will also be so arranged as to afford free and unobstructedpassage for the wastewater, and without any liability of the ballvalvebecoming jammed in or filling the neck of the bend through which thewaste-water passes to the lower branch of the trap.

We also make the bend of the trap perpendicular, by which it can bebrought close to the branches, this formation being valuable, not onlybecause it insures the successful action of the ball-valve andeconomizes space, but also because it requires less weight of metal fora trap for a given size than would be required under the old forms. i

The nature of our invention, and the manner in which the same is or maybe carried into effect, will be understood by reference to theaccompanying drawing, in which- Fgure lis a horizontal section of ourimproved trap on the line a: a' Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a vertical section ofthe same on the line y yr Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a vertical section of amodification of the trap, the modilication being in UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE. A

the formation of the upper part ofthe bend f or in the screw-plugwhichcovers the same.

The trap shown in the drawing is thesame in principle as the S trap, abeing the bend and b b the upper and lower branches. In the bend isvplaced a ball4valve, A, which is of such weight that it will readily belifted by the flow of water or sewage, and fall back in its seat whenthe water or sewage has passed through. The valve may be made ofvulcanized rubbercombined with plumbago and other Suitable materials togive the proper weight, and to enable it to resist the action of hotwater, Src.; or it may be of glass, wood, metal, or other Asuitablematerials, hollow or otherwise. Below the valve, and in the lower partof the bend, is located the valve-seat B, which is cast with, orotherwise suitably formed and attached to, the trap. A screwplug ispreferably provided at thetop of the i bend to enable the same to beopened for the purpose of cleaning the trap if desired. The

ball-valve is considerably less in diameter than the bend a, as shown inFig.`1, and is steadied and guided and prevented from closing orbecoming jammed in the neck of the bend at d by means of vertical ribsor.:

guides f, three ormore in number, formed on `1 d the interior of thebend, and extending from the valve-seat to the top of the bend, or, at

any rate, far enough in `both directions to hold the valve perfectlysecure in any position it may assume. These ribs are radial `from theaxis of the bend, and their inner faces are equidistant from said axis,lying in a circle of which the axis is the center, and of a diameterslightly greater than the diameter of the ball-valve, so that the lattermay move up and down between these guides freely and without danger ofbeing cramped. Thearrangement of the guides and the valve is shownclearly in the drawings, and it `willbe seen that while the valve hasperfect freedom of movement vertically, it allows the water to pass allaround it, alordsunobstructed passage for the water through the trap,'and is so held as to be prevented from moving laterally into or towardthe neck d ofthe bend. n lt may be found desirable to allow the ball tooat entirely above the opening d, and to this end the top of the bend orthe hollow screw-plug closing the same may be extended some distanceabove the opening d, as shown atC, Fig. 3, in which event avalve-receptacle will be formed into which the ball, when occasionrequires it, will oat entirely above and out t of the path of theopening d. The ball-valve,

guides, and seat can be combined with ordinary S or half-S, N, orrunning traps. But We much prefer, for the reasons stated in the openingportion of this specification, to construct the bend perpendicular,making its wall, for a portion of its contour, in one piece with thewalls ofthe upper and lower branches, as' shown in Figs. l and 2. Theadvantages of this construction have been above stated and need not behere repeated. The traps may be made by any ordinary or suitableprocess, either cast in one piece or made in sections, united by eitherlburning or soldering, or constructed by any other well-known means andof suitable material.

What we claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

A plumbers waste-trap, provided, in the bend between the two branches,with aballvalve held and guided between vertical ribs formed on theinterior surface of the bend between the valve seat and the top ofthebend, said parts being constructed and arranged for operationsubstantially as and for the purposes herein shown and set forth.

In testimony whereof we' have hereunto signed our names in the presenceof two subscribing Witnesses.

WM. A. SHAW. CHRISTOPHER C. TRACY. Witnesses:

WILLIAM F; T. CHAPMAN, J oHN S. WALKER..

